12:31 a.m. - 2021-09-01
THE BEAST MUST DIE (1974)
THE BEAST MUST DIE is an example of a movie with an interesting premise that fails in its execution. Millionaire Tom Newcliffe hosts a party at his remote English estate. The six guests all have mysterious and violent incidents in their pasts. One of them might be a werewolf, and the host--in typical man who has everything style-- wants to hunt and kill said creature. The movie audience is challenged to deduce the identity of the werewolf before the monster is revealed, and a "werewolf break" will take place after all the clues have been set forth but before the climax of the film. Thus, the movie sets itself up as a combination mystery and horror tale, combining elements of Agatha Christie, "The Most Dangerous Game," and "The Wolf Man."

Unfortunately, the story itself does not live up to its tantalizing promise. The "werewolf break" consists of an onscreen stopwatch ticking off thirty seconds while the theme from "Jeopardy"--no, that's not a misprint--plays in the background. The film is also burdened by a jazz soundtrack which works against the desired aura of mystery and suspense. The special effects are halfhearted. The werewolf is a large wolflike dog that prefers jumping over its intended victims several times before attacking them. There is a slow speed chase scene involving overgrown golf carts on a dirt road, accompanied by a jazz ensemble.

The film is far too talky, with long scenes involving Newcliffe having his guests handle a silver candlestick in hopes of exposing the werewolf. Later he decides to bring wolfsbane into the mix and repeats the candlestick challenge. But a later scene reveals that, for all his research into lycanthropy, the millionaire hunter is unaware that the saliva of a werewolf can infect and transform its victims. None of the characters are particularly appealing, and there is no true protagonist. None of the deaths are moving or even particularly important, including the "tragic" surprise ending.

Worst of all is the sheer stupidity of Newcliffe's plan. Did it never occur to him that the werewolf might attack and kill the other guests, including his own wife? He has an elaborate plan--laid out in far too much detail at the beginning of the film--involving arboreal cameras and underground sensors for detection of the werewolf, and predicated on the false assumption that the beast will play fair and stay in the woods to be hunted. None of the guests is armed, nor is his employee, whose surveillance room is set up in the glass-roofed conservatory. The "hero" of the story comes across as a thoughtless buffoon who puts other people at risk with no plan and no good reason for doing so.

If Moe inadvertently put out one of Shemp's eyes with a finger poke, it would be sad but predictable; after all, he risked doing so many times before. Newcliffe's fecklessness, together with the other flaws in the film, create a situation too comic to be either suspenseful or dramatic.

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